Skyline Wilderness Trail Heads

It makes me feel so tough to wear my hard hat to a job site! Three trail heads done, one to go. The Skyline Trail Heads project is the sister to the Dinosaur Park Master Plan. We predict this will start the next era of Rapid City’s love affair with Skyline Drive.

We had a blast working on this project with AE2S Engineering, Architecture International and Rapid City Parks and Recreation. How cool is it to have a project that needs a crane?! It was quite an astounding operation to watch the unloading of the new rest room building (concrete precast) from the back of the flatbed, fitted to the foundation with all of the plumbing in the right place in less than 5 minutes. Not too much fancy landscape architecture, just a lot a great site planning, bike parking, a couple of rattle snake warnings and framing amazing views. The contractor is RCS Construction. I think they might be having fun with this one! (Cranes!)

This project made improvements to the Dinosaur Park parking lot, and added new trail head locations at the Petrified Forest and Stonewall on Skyline Drive and at the end of West Fulton Street on the west slope of the Hogback Ridge. Stonewall is the final trail head to be constructed, and most complicated of the projects, rerouting part of Skyline Drive to improve road safety and make space for parking, a restroom, trail head, and preservation of the old stone wall. These trail heads will serve the amazing new Skyline Wilderness trail system. We do recommend staying on this side of the wall as a cranky old rattler lives on the other side.